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07/20/2010 - Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bulls have acquired guard C.J. Watson from Golden State in a sign-and-trade deal that netted the Warriors a second-round draft pick.
An official Bulls blog on the team's website confirmed the swap through league sources and indicates Watson will make about $10 million over three years. The first two years are reportedly guaranteed with the Chicago Tribune reporting the pick is tied to the 2011 draft.
Watson, just completed his third season with the Warriors, and posted career highs with 10.3 points, 2.8 assists and 2.6 rebounds in 65 games (15 starts). He averaged 27.5 minutes of floor time and shot 31 percent from three-point range, sinking 45 from long distance.
The 26-year-old Tennessee product was originally signed as a free agent by Charlotte in 2007 before being waived within a month's time. In 174 career games, including 33 starts, Watson has averaged 8.7 points, 2.4 assists and 2.3 boards.
<< American midfielder Zizzo signs with MLS
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - American midfielder Sal Zizzo has left German
Bundesliga club Hannover and signed with Major League Soccer on Tuesday. Zizzo
will learn his new club after a weighted lottery is conducted on Wednesday.
Zizzo p
<< CFL West Division: Riders only team to win in week three
Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There is now just one team in the West with
a perfect record, but their latest win looked far from perfect. The
Saskatchewan Roughriders pulled another rabbit out of the hat in week three,
this time storming b
<< Hamilton's Glenn highlights CFL Players of the Week
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hamilton quarterback Kevin Glenn, Edmonton
linebacker Maurice Lloyd and kicker Noel Prefontaine, and Hamilton wide receiver
Dave Stala were selected as the CFL's top performers for Week 3 of the 2010
seaso
<< Piniella to retire at the end of the season
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella has decided
to retire at the conclusion of the 2010 season.
Piniella is in his fourth season as Cubs manager. He guided the club to a
winning record in each of his fir
Cubs recall P Stevens, option Atkins >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs promoted pitcher Jeff Stevens
from Triple-A Iowa on Tuesday.
The 26-year-old joins the big club for the third time this season and has
pitched to a 5.71 earned run average without recordi
Heat bring in veteran Howard >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Heat continued their radical roster
reshaping on Tuesday by signing journeyman forward Juwan Howard.
Per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed. However, the South
Florida Sun-Sentin
Panthers ink third-rounder LaFell >>
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Carolina Panthers have signed third-
round draft pick wide receiver Brandon LaFell.
LaFell, selected 78th overall out of Louisiana State, ranks second in school
history with 25 touchdown recepti
Rangers' Nippert lands on DL >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers decided to place reliever
Dustin Nippert on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday after he was struck in the
head by a line drive during Monday's game versus the Tigers.
Nippert was taken to
In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
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